WHY THE FUTURE HOMES TEAM?
This is the age of customer service, and the focus of most advertising is on promising to deliver the best service. Certainly that is a key consideration when the public considers which real estate person and company will represent them. Throughout the years, the industry line was: pick a good solid producer – they have the time to give personal attention. However, as Robert has collected information from his Real Estate sales experience since 1986, our views have certainly changed! We now believe that the Best Performers give the Best Service! Now we hate to generalize, and we know there are exceptions, but we think there is sufficient proof to make this claim!
But first, let us qualify what we mean by a top performer. Once you reach a certain level, it does not matter whether a sales representative does an extra two or three deals a year. For example, if you appear in Canada’s Best Real Estate Performers, it does not matter whether you are 51st or 151st! It does however matter whether you average a transaction* every business day as does Future Homes or one transaction* every sixty (60) days (the average according to 2005/06 WECREB statistics). But before we begin the debate, what do we mean by good service? At the first level, it means being available to answer questions and to provide feedback on progress made to sell a property or to find a new one. But in the end, what we are really talking about is completing the deal on time with the least amount of hassles.
The classic argument advanced by average producers is that top performers are just too busy to respond to individual clients or customers. However, the real truth is top performers invest more heavily in cellular phones, computers, websites, e-mail use, pagers and especially in personal assistants. It is really the latter that has allowed top performers to provide superb service and separate themselves above and beyond an average producer. Assistants tend to be office-bound and are easier to reach. They usually can supply most answers and can do a lot of the follow-up. (We aren’t even going to get into the arguments about top performers working longer hours and working more efficiently with superior time management skills.)
Top performers earn more and that too is important. In the past, the Brokerage (company) paid for most expenses. Today it is the reverse! Most Brokers are reducing their administration staff and hence sales representatives must hire on their own personal assistants. Most sales representatives buy their own computers for desk top publishing, client correspondence and so on. They also pay for most if not all of their advertising. So who is in the best position to take on all these expenses? Of course it is clearly the top performers. By spending in these areas, top performers are more productive, generate more leads and communicate more frequently with their clients, and isn’t that exactly what you want?
Another valid point is top performers are in the market much more frequently. By default they have considerably more market information at their disposal and is much more current than the average producer. And, we all know that reputable market information and experience is two of the most important factors and services a sales representative can offer any customer or client.
By Robert Tatomir, Broker of Record
ABR, MVA, RECS, SRES
CREA Canadian Commercial Council
Future Homes & Real Estate Ltd. Brokerage
* “TRANSACTION” includes any agency to represent, purchase, list, sell, exchange, option, lease, mortgage, rent or otherwise.
